Form 8-K - Current report

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 16, 2024

 

AMERICAN BATTERY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Nevada		001-41811		33-1227980
(State or other jurisdiction of		(Commission		(IRS Employer
incorporation or organization)		File No.)		Identification Number)

 

100 Washington Street, Suite 100 Reno, NV		89503
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

 

[phone]

(Registrant’s telephone number including area code)

 

N/A

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of Each Class		Trading Symbol(s)		Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock, $0.001 par value		ABAT		The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company ☐

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 

 

 

 

Item 1.01. Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

 

On December 16, 2024, American Battery Technology Company (the “Company”) and the United States Department of Energy (the “DOE”) entered into an Assistance Agreement (the “Grant”), award number DE-MS0000104, with an effective date of January 1, 2025, for a $368,492,614 project for a commercial scale battery recycling facility. Under the Grant, the DOE’s cost share is $143,600,000, with funds obligated in the amount of $122,993,645.63, and the Company’s cost share is $224,892,614. The remaining $6,400,000 of the DOE’s $150,000,000 previously-announced award is payable directly to Argonne National Laboratory, ABTC’s subcontractor that is supporting the project.

 

The foregoing description of the Grant is qualified in its entirety by such agreement, a copy of which will be filed as an exhibit to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending December 31, 2024.

 

Item 8.01 Other Events.

 

On December 18, 2024, the Company issued a press release announcing the Grant. A copy of the press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

Exhibit No.		Description
99.1		Press Release dated December 18, 2024
104		Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)

 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

	AMERICAN BATTERY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
Date: December 18, 2024	By:	/s/ Ryan Melsert
		Ryan Melsert
		Chief Executive Officer

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

 

American Battery Technology Company Awarded $144 Million Grant Contract from U.S. Department of Energy for Construction of Second Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Facility

 

●

Highly competitive grant award facilitates significant expansion of company’s internally-developed commercial lithium-ion battery recycling operations, with an additional 100,000 tonnes/year of battery materials processing capacity

 

●

Second facility has a design capacity five times the throughput of the company’s first lithium-ion battery recycling plant, based on scale of domestic end-of-life materials market

 

Reno, Nev., December 18, 2024 — American Battery Technology Company (NASDAQ: ABAT), an integrated critical battery materials company that is commercializing its technologies for both primary battery minerals manufacturing and secondary minerals lithium-ion battery recycling, has received a contracted grant award for $144 million of federal investment by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with these funds awarded to American Battery Technology Company (ABTC) and its subcontractor Argonne National Laboratory, to support the construction of a new lithium-ion battery recycling facility.

 

This facility will be the company’s second commercial-scale lithium-ion battery recycling facility and will process approximately 100,000 tonnes/year of battery materials from its automotive OEM, cell manufacturer, and community partners. This facility will intake a wide variety of end-of-life and manufacturing scrap materials, and will output battery grade nickel, cobalt, manganese, and lithium hydroxide products to be sold to the North American market. ABTC entered into a strategic partnership agreement with BASF in Summer 2023, one of the premier cathode manufacturers in North America, for the purchase of its battery grade metals.

 

“We are extremely proud to have been awarded this highly competitive grant contract from the U.S. DOE, and it will directly support the additional capacity required to process the quantity of materials demanded from the domestic automotive and battery industry,” stated American Battery Technology Company CEO Ryan Melsert. “We are excited to be further scaling our internally-developed recycling technologies and expanding domestic supply of unrealized, in-demand, recycled, battery grade, sustainably-manufactured materials.”

 

This second facility is designed to scale fivefold the company’s first recycling facility and will implement its internally-developed processes for the strategic de-manufacturing and targeted chemical extraction of battery grade products at competitive costs and with low environmental footprint. These processes have already been demonstrated to produce battery grade products that meet the rigorous specifications set by cathode refining customers and are fundamentally different than conventional methods of battery recycling, which generally utilize either high temperature smelting or non-strategic shredding systems.

 

 

The company has leveraged its in-house ABTC R&D, project management, and engineering team members, many of whom were previously members of the founding Tesla Gigafactory design and engineering teams, to scale and de-risk ABTC’s commercialization of this second battery recycling facility.

 

True to the company’s strategic model to engage a diverse portfolio of partners and stakeholders to bring advanced battery technologies online and establish a commercial battery metals supply chain for North America, this project will leverage multiple partners including feedstock supplier and critical mineral product offtaker BASF, global engineering firm Siemens, the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) ReCell Center, the Argonne National Laboratory Sustainable Transportation Education & Partnerships (STEP) department, and the South Carolina Electric Transportation Network (SCETNetwork).

 

Through this new facility construction project, ABTC will employ a proactive, community-driven engagement model to build an energy equity, sustainable circular manufacturing ecosystem that aims to create 1,200 construction jobs and 300 operations jobs. The company will work in direct partnership between communities, educational institutions, industry, government, the National Laboratory system, and the next generation workforce to support equitable and sustainable initiatives that benefit and strengthen in local communities, including in underserved communities that have historically been left behind.

 

“I’m personally very proud of our internal teams for the preparation of this proposal, performance during the due diligence rounds, and proficiency in the rapid contracting of this competitive award,” Melsert continued.

 

The contracted grant award will commence on January 1, 2025.

 

About American Battery Technology Company

 

American Battery Technology Company (ABTC), headquartered in Reno, Nevada, has pioneered first-of-kind technologies to unlock domestically manufactured and recycled battery metals critically needed to help meet the significant demand from the electric vehicle, stationary storage, and consumer electronics industries. Committed to a circular supply chain for battery metals, ABTC works to continually innovate and master new battery metals technologies that power a global transition to electrification and the future of sustainable energy.

Forward-Looking Statements

 

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are “forward-looking statements.” Although the American Battery Technology Company’s (the “Company”) management believes that such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee that such expectations are, or will be, correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company’s future results to differ materially from those anticipated. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks and uncertainties related to the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern; general economic conditions and conditions affecting the industries in which the Company operates; the uncertainty of regulatory requirements and approvals; fluctuating mineral and commodity prices. Additional information regarding the factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements is available in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2024. The Company assumes no obligation to update any of the information contained or referenced in this press release.

 

###

 

American Battery Technology Company

Media Contact:

 

Tiffiany Moehring

[e-mail]

720-254-1556

 

 

 

Cover	Dec. 16, 2024
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Dec. 16, 2024
Entity File Number	001-41811
Entity Registrant Name	AMERICAN BATTERY TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
Entity Central Index Key	0001576873
Entity Tax Identification Number	33-1227980
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	NV
Entity Address, Address Line One	100 Washington Street
Entity Address, Address Line Two	Suite 100
Entity Address, City or Town	Reno
Entity Address, State or Province	NV
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	89503
City Area Code	(775)
Local Phone Number	473-4744
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, $0.001 par value
Trading Symbol	ABAT
Security Exchange Name	NASDAQ
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false

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